Persphyni: I am Determined

2

"Wake up! Damnit! Wake up, Pers!"

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"You gotta wake up."

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"Please, Persphyni."

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"You're all I have left. Please."

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"I can't do this without you. Please. Please! Wake up."

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The same words were repeated over and over and over again. Yet she wouldn't stir. Her skin had returned from the red and pale splotches to the lightly freckled tan color she had received from being on the ground. Her breathing had returned but remained shallow and barely noticeable as her stomach moved discreetly.

Her skin burned as a fever coursed through her veins to fight off the radiation. The blonde periodically ran a cool rag along the redhead's forehead and arms to try and help combat that raging fever.

All day and all night, the blonde would keep an eye on the redhead. Worry blanketing her as she counted down the days. If the redhead didn't wake up within the week, Clarke would have to let her go. The life support supply would end in five days time, meaning she would die. Leaving Clarke to join her in the afterlife.

That was already decided.

Clarke wouldn't- couldn't, do this without Persphyni. Not when she knows how close to survival the redhead is. Not when Clarke knows there's five more years she has to live alone and with the memory of not being able to save her.

It was on the last day that the miracle came. It was the last day Persphyni pulled through. It was the last day in which Persphyni showed once again the results of continuing to fight.

It was on this day, that Persphyni showed just how much of a survivor she was.

On the day the IV would officially run out, the redhead took a sharp gasp and woke up. Her eyes snapping to the dimly lit ceiling before she tried to sit up.

And just like that, Persphyni's tale continues.

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"Pers!" Clarke yells from across the room, her feet pounding on the floor as she runs towards me. My head pounding every time her boots slam on the ground as she nears me.

She doesn't say anything else before she flies at me. Her feet leaving the ground as she leaps towards me in order to give me a hug. I saw what was coming and closed my eyes as I braced myself.

Her body collided with mine and I was slammed back onto the medical bed. The breath leaving me as the thin mattress dug into my back.

Her arms closed around me and squeezed tightly. I tried to tap her arm and call out to her but I couldn't.

My eyes flew back open as I tried to tell her to get off, but I couldn't breathe. I couldn't say anything as she held me tightly. I brought my knee out and hit her in the side, causing her to loosen her grip before I weakly flipped her off of me and onto the floor.

My cough filled the air as I brought a hand to my chest before pushing myself into a seated position again.

I was alive.

I was alive.

And I was thirsty.

When Clarke stood back up, I placed a hand out to stop her from coming closer as I grabbed the small glass of water beside me and drank it quickly. My aching body pulsing as my blood ran through my veins.

"Pers?" I pulled the glass from my lips and looked into her cloudy blue eyes.

The slight pus-filled wounds were surrounded in red as they cluttered on her forehead, cheeks, and jawline. Her face was pale, more colored than when I last saw her, but still pale.

"Hey, Clarke." I croaked as I swung my legs over the side of the bed. Stretching my arms out to offer her a hug.

"Thank God." She breathed as she wrapped her arms around my waist and hugged me gently. I stayed quiet and wrapped my arms around her shoulders. Choosing to not inform her she should also thank Death for letting me back over as I closed my eyes and set my head on her hair.

"You look better." I whispered as I pulled away from the blonde.

"You look like shit." I blinked before letting out a bark of laughter.

"I'm certain I do." I looked around the surroundings as I took a deep breath and grasped the edge of the medical bed. "How long?"

"A week. It's been a week since you passed out. Thirteen days since Praimfaya." I nodded, slightly pushing of the bed to land on the floor slowly.

My bare feet stretched out as I took in the cold floor. My breath deep as I took a step forward. Then another. My eyes focused on the ground before something caught my eye.

"Clarke." I heard the blonde freeze and tense up behind me. "What is that? What did you do?"

I saw the broken syringe on the floor by the glass door of the office, the same syringe I had left on the lab table downstairs. When I looked at my hands they were fine, normal. Identical to how they looked before.

"Clarke."

"It was the only way. The Nightblood combats the radiation and-" I cut her off when I saw it. The thin black lines in my left wrist. My blackened veins that stood out against my skin.

I followed the veins up. My eyes wide as I examined the black lines within my skin. All up my left arm, veins of black twisted and twirled to make a network off blood. A beautiful work of art printed in my skin forevermore.

I pulled the short sleeve off and walked towards the reflective glass off the office and inhaled sharply when I saw the black veins spiral the rest off the way up my arm and shoulder until they reached my left breast and disappeared. My heart had really become black.

I changed arms and examined my right only to become confused. Not only did I not have black veins up and down my arms. But I could still see the blue veins that I had before. When I had red blood.

I turned sharply. My eyes scanning the upper level of the lab, avoiding Clarke's frantic look.

"It was the only way, I - what are you doing? Persphyni, wait, stop!" She couldn't reach me fast enough as I grabbed the scalpel and sliced my left forearm. My fist clenched as I stared at the black liquid that bled from the cut.

Nightblood.

"What are you doing? That was stupid." Clarke scolded as she grabbed a piece of cloth and wrap from the table before coming over to me. "Obviously you'll- Pers!"

I sliced the same mark on my right forearm. My jaw clenched as I relaxed my arm. It was red. It was normal.

"What happened?"

But Clarke couldn't answer me. And neither could science.

I now had truly become a freak of nature.